


Friends

by ineedthislikeaholeinthehead



Category: British Actor RPF, Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Biphobia, Friends to Lovers, M/M, questionable behavior that might be construed as cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:22:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedthislikeaholeinthehead/pseuds/ineedthislikeaholeinthehead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1. I used the song "friends" by flight of the conchords as a guideline- and it's probably obvious- and hopefully not terrible.</p><p>2.  Obviously this exists in a universe where these gorgeous creatures are unattached and no offense is meant.</p><p>3. But they are SO flirtatious on Twitter, I can't be the only one who gets a little gooey at the thought of it, right? </p><p>4.  I highly doubt this is what my lovely girlfriend was expecting when she said "write me some fic for Xmas!" But it was written for her.</p><p>5. I wrote this (like everything I write) on my phone, and since  te aforementioned girlfriend is really the only person willing to beta for me, I am sure it is riddled with typos and grammatical errors, te most embarrassing of which is probably many misspellings of Eoin's name, which is lovely, but I royally butcher on the regular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Obvious disclaimer- do not own anything. People are not mine, I don't know them and never will!
> 
> Also, I extremely frustrated by my absolute lack of smut. I swear I'm actually halfway adequate at such things, but I couldn't figure a good way to squeeze it in.
> 
> Sorry!

If any one ever asks, they're just friends. 

Friends sing together, la la la la

It happens on sets all the time. People meet. They share common interests or backgrounds or senses of humor.

When you're on location, you become a family... Or at least, you're stuck with each other or the loneliness... So you aren't as terrified of stopping by some one's room and asking them out for a drink. 

Or at least, not as terrified as you might be if you were both at home, where there are so many other things to do and people to see.

Friends do things together, la la la la

It's not like you're swooning or anything. Not as if your life was in actual danger. Eoin definitely knocked some obnoxious bloke out because he wouldn't leave you alone.   
But, that's what friends do when they've had too much to drink on a rowdy night in New York City. It's not something to think about. Certainly not something to keep you up about weeks later.

Friends help you when you're in danger

Sometimes, friends drift apart. It stinks, when you're talking to some one and you can feel the miles between you. You worry that you're putting more stock into the friendship than they are. That it's obvious how much more you want. You wish to god that they were here in the same flat as you right now and that you had the balls or the spine to just say it out loud. 

Then you crack and you say it through the phone; confess something you thought you'd always keep to yourself. "I want you." And you're afraid of what will come out of the other side of the line. "I know." 

Friends are people who are not strangers

Why the hell did you ask for help? Or rather, why the hell did you ask him for help? 

Sure, he's great if what you need help with is some one to talk you off when you're out of town. 

But those perfectly sculpted muscles are strictly for show, and he has a habit of laughing so hard that he falls over. Which would be endearing, if only he weren't holding boxes filled with your things.

It makes you rethink the whole move. What was wrong with London? The work there was fun, the trains there were nice. You could take them all the way home if you wanted to. 

And best of all, the streets in London were never full of New Yorkers. You could go full days with out having to speak to a single American. That was the life. 

And now you were in a cramped apartment in an obnoxiously named village thousands of miles away from the country you'd adopted as home.

And he's dropped another box, and somethings cracked, and you know he's not going to replace it, but you don't care, because he's laughing, and he lives two blocks away, and if you need anything else broken, or laughed at, day or night, rain or shine, he can come over and do it for you.

Friends help you shift into a new place

There is nothing worth eating in New York, you've decided. Tons of crap, but nothing with any substance. So you've gone to the market and brought two bags of food on the train every night for the whole two weeks you've been here. And cooking is a lot more tiring if you're carting everything around in your arms on subway cars that are too packed.   
And it's just depressing to cook for one, but you're not ready to start inviting any one over just yet. 

In fact, you wouldn't have even considered inviting eoin over if he weren't standing outside your door when you finally got in.

"You know you can have that delivered, right?"

He says, not offering to help you with your bags- because leaning on the wall looking aloof while watching you juggle your keys is more entertaining for him. 

You open the door and He grabs the cat, who's still trying to escape, catch a flight or a boat back to London and find a nicer person to keep him flush in treats and nibbles.

"I don't want another rubbish pizza or crap Chinese."

"This is New York mate, you can get all kinds of things delivered." And he lets the cat down and helps you put away the groceries before showing you how to order Indian food.

Tell you if you've got food on you're face

Being sick is the absolute worst. You'd had colds before, but the first one in New York is fucking awful.

You tell yourself it's just a sniffle and a head ache, but then you're sitting up and just feel an avalanche of mucus run down your throat. And you've got a full day of rehearsals but no other meetings and you look at yourself in the mirror and can't tell if it's the sickness or your actual face that makes you feel queasy. 

So you say fuck it, and get back under your covers and wake up three hours later more miserable than before, and starving. 

In an attempt to be self sufficient, you wrack your brain for the steps eoin had outlined in order to get soup delivered to your door. But it's impossible, so you cave and call him.

"I need soup" you tell him when he picks up the other end of the line.

"Sounds like you need a lot more than that."

"It's just a cold. I need soup."

"Ok." He says.

"But have some one else deliver it." You tell him. He's busy, you're sure. Even if he isn't, you feel too shitty to attempt changing out of the embarrassingly comfortable sweats you've been In all morning.

"Fuck you. I'll be over in an hour." He says before hanging up. 

He's an ass, but he's bringing soup. So you begrudgingly take a shower, put on actual clothes, and uncomfortably sit on the sofa, attempting to watch a bad cooking show, which doesn't help your mood since you're queasy and hungry at the same time. 

He gets to your place in 35 minutes, soup in tow, along with an array of different medicines, including a small, green prescription bottle. You pull that out of the bag first and roll your eyes.

"This is not what I need right now."

He grabs it. "That's for me...And maybe for you when you feel better." He says with a smile. 

And even though you're gross and most likely contagious, he gives you a peck on the forehead and takes you back to bed to feed you soup and cuddle under the covers until the NyQuil sets in.

Friends are the ones, on who you can depend

You're overreacting. That's the end of the story. You have to shut down that anxious, jealous part of your brain. You don't own Eoin, and if you did, you certainly wouldn't be able to keep him if you go around acting so unattractive. 

You know what Eoin gets like around cute girls. You happen to be a bit of a flirt yourself when the occasion calls for it... And even sometimes when it only suits you. So this sudden jealous streak that pops up unexpectedly when one of his "oldest friends" shows up, and stays with him really was unexpected.

It's obvious the first time you see them together that their history definitely involved sex. But you're friends with enough of your ex lovers to know- logically, at least- that past behaviors don't preclude a present, completely platonic relationship. And even if they start ripping off each other's clothes the second you leave his flat, it doesn't give you cause to be jealous. 

After all, you're just friends.

Of course, you would tell your friends when you hook up with your flat mate...

But after she's been squatting at his place for over a month, you still haven't heard a peep out of Eoin.

Even after her clothes and suitcases disappear from the living room, but she remains. Nothing.

From first had experience you know his single bedroom can barely fit the one bed he has. So you're waiting for some kind of mention.

Because, friends tell each other when they get girlfriends.

And then one night, he's over at yours, and things get out of hand. You've promised yourself nothing fun was going to go on between the two of you until he gave you an honest answer, and that's definitely not happened. 

But you can't say no when he's so close. And you don't want to ruin the moment by stopping to ask about something that, if it were important, he would have mentioned. So it happens, and it's what you've been missing from him for months, and the next morning, when he's asleep In Your bed, you know you were over reacting.

It makes you realize how much more you want from him. It makes you think about all the nights you've spent together- and all the nights you'd wished you'd spent together.

You try to talk yourself out of it over the next couple of weeks. But you're sure of yourself, and it's not going to fade away or stay on the back burner any more, so you put on the shirt he thinks you look best in, pick up some flowers and chocolate on the way over, and barge into his bedroom, love-drunk enough to actually proclaim, "I fucking love you, you stupid bastard." Before noticing that alone, on your side of his bed, is so much more of that stupid roommates flesh than you would ever care to see.

As Eoin walks out of the toilet, you repeat, just the end, "you stupid bastard!"

He's my friend, He's not my friend

You're a fucking idiot. How the hell could you ignore something that was right in front of your eyes like this? 

After all, you're just friends. 

And sure, on lonely nights when you're both a bit hot and bothered and the drinks are decent, you might be a special type of friends. 

But how cute do you actually think you are? How could you actually think he'd want to deal with the way THAT falls out for people who live publicly?

There aren't enough spaces in this business for cute couples who don't fit into clear little boxes, and neither of you have the clout to get away with the sort of thing you are.

Especially when he's got a convenient pretty roommate with the right hair and the right smile and the right set of fucking tits.

And you realize that you've just put it all on the line in a way that makes it utterly impossible to go back to the way things were. And you might have just lost your best friend because you couldn't get it through your head that you were just friends.

And in a city of millions, you completely understand what it feels like to be absolutely alone. 

And you're outside his apartment with a box of fucking chocolates and some pathetic roses. Serves you right for giving in to cliche. You toss the roses into the street, and you're about to start flinging the chocolates at pedestrians when Eoin, shoeless, still struggling to pull his shirt on, sprint toward you. screaming "ALEX!" As he careens toward you.

You zip around before he brings you to the ground. 

"What?"

He pauses, to catch his breath, or contemplate his next move, you're not sure.

"I want you." He says, then pushes the chocolates to the ground, pulling you in for a kiss- in broad daylight, on a street where no one cares, but all can see. 

You pull away, catch your breath and equilibrium, and then say

"You'd better." Before pulling him back, wishing you could stay in his dizzying arms for eternity.

Friends are the ones who are there at the end

La la la la, friends friends friends friends  
La la la la


End file.
